Debt Collection Agency considering court

by Courtney
(San Diego, CA USA)

Hi! We have two people trying to collect money from us. One company (we were military and moved out early, due to my husband getting early separation from an injury)is trying to take us to court because we owe them around 2,000 for the last months rent. My husband was in the Navy for 18 of the days of that month, so the Navy is SUPPOSED to be paying for that, and us, the rest of the 10 days we were there. They NEVER contacted us via phone or mail to let us know what we owed, or anything like that. Now they have placed us with a law office in California (where we resided and still reside) and the law office has chosen to take us to court due to "no response received."

I did get a call from them, but the person didn't speak English well and I couldn't understand what they were saying. I thought it was some wrong number, or prank call. So I hung up. Later on, when we got another letter from these people, I called them and got ahold of the woman in charge of our case. Now they're saying they're going to take us to court! (no court date has been set...we called the apartment/housing office to discuss with them what we could do, because we had NO clue about this until we got a letter in the mail. We are still waiting on a response from them).

Can they really take us to court when we knew nothing about this???!!!!

And then, for the second creditor...we went and bought new wedding bands (we owe them 326.00...that is all that is left) We have received letters from them, but NO phone calls, which is what they're claiming. The letters just started coming like 4 weeks ago.

We are REALLY tight on money since my husband got out of the Navy and started a new job which pays commission only. We are barely making it every month and sometimes can't even pay the few bills we have!!!! I'm scared, because I don't want to go to court, and we can't afford court, attorneys and fines! Please help me understand what we can do and what we need to do! thanks!

Comments for Debt Collection Agency considering court

So sorry about your financial problems, Courtney. If you are being threatened with lawsuits because of your debts, I urge you to contact a consumer bankruptcy attorney right away. The attorney will review your finances to determine if you are a good candidate for bankruptcy and if you file, all threats of lawsuits and any other efforts to collect money from you must stop immediately. Depending on the kind of bankruptcy you file, you will be able to wipe out most if not all of your unsecured debt (debt that you just signed for like credit card debt and medical debt as opposed to debt that you collateralized or secure with an asset that you own -- like a car or home loan).

Note: If any of the lawsuits already happened and there are judgments against you, you should still contact a bankruptcy attorney because bankruptcy will stop any efforts to enforce the judgments (collect the money you have been ordered to pay).